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Wrong-way San Diego DUI driver crashes on I-5

By Mark Deniz of The Law Offices of Mark Deniz APLC on Wednesday, January 28, 2015.

There are two ways to elevate a San Diego DUI from a misdemeanor to a felony. One is to have too many priors in a 10 year window. The other way is to have the DUI result in "injury".

This is a very litigated issue in the San Diego DUI community. Obviously, the difference between a felony and misdemeanor is significant. The legislature did not mean for every fender bender where someone has a sore neck to be a felony. The facts of the case and the nature of the injuries really need to be fleshed out.

Paramedics come and take people to the hospital as a precaution to only to have them be released a few hours later with aspirin. Some are more serious.

Below is a recent case I suspect will likely be issued as a San Diego Felony DUI.

A suspected drunken driver heading the wrong way on Interstate 5 in downtown early Tuesday slammed into a pickup truck in a crash that closed freeway lanes for hours, authorities said.

The 25-year-old San Diego man was driving a Chevrolet Equinox south on north I-5 when he crashed into an F-150 truck near state Route 163, said California Highway Patrol Officer Jake Sanchez.Two passengers in the Equinox, a 24-year-old woman and 38-year-old man, suffered major injuries in the crash. The two drivers also were taken to the hospital.

Three lanes of northbound I-5 were closed for about two hours and were reopened to traffic around 4:20 a.m., Sanchez said.

23153. (a) It is unlawful for a person, while under the influence of any alcoholic beverage to drive a vehicle and concurrently do any act forbidden by law, or neglect any duty imposed by law in driving the vehicle, which act or neglect proximately causes bodily injury to any person other than the driver. (b) It is unlawful for a person, while having 0.08 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in his or her blood to drive a vehicle and concurrently do any act forbidden by law, or neglect any duty imposed by law in driving the vehicle, which act or neglect proximately causes bodily injury to any person other than the driver. In any prosecution under this subdivision, it is a rebuttable presumption that the person had 0.08 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in his or her blood at the time of driving the vehicle if the person had 0.08 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in his or her blood at the time of the performance of a chemical test within three hours after driving. (c) In proving the person neglected any duty imposed by law in driving the vehicle, it is not necessary to prove that any specific section of this code was violated. (d) It is unlawful for a person, while having 0.04 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in his or her blood to drive a commercial motor vehicle, as defined in Section 15210, and concurrently to do any act forbidden by law or neglect any duty imposed by law in driving the vehicle, which act or neglect proximately causes bodily injury to any person other than the driver. In any prosecution under this subdivision, it is a rebuttable presumption that the person had 0.04 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in his or her blood at the time of driving the vehicle if the person had 0.04 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in his or her blood at the time of performance of a chemical test within three hours after driving. (e) It is unlawful for a person, while under the influence of any drug, to drive a vehicle and concurrently do any act forbidden by law, or neglect any duty imposed by law in driving the vehicle, which act or neglect proximately causes bodily injury to any person other than the driver. (f) It is unlawful for a person, while under the combined influence of any alcoholic beverage and drug, to drive a vehicle and concurrently do any act forbidden by law, or neglect any duty imposed by law in driving the vehicle, which act or neglect proximately causes bodily injury to any person other than the driver. (g) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2014.

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